Shouldn't Be Here
by patrioticsuicide
Summary: Buffy and the gang face new problems in the build up to the battle against the First. People are dead, others are lost. Confused? So are they. Updated!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All characters etc belong to Joss, I just wanted to play with them for a while.  
A.N: This takes place after Dirty Girls in the build-up to the fight against the first. It might be a little confusing at first, but I swear it will make sense eventually. Sorry that the prologue is so short, I just wanted to get the main point across seperately. Enjoy and please review, it makes me write faster : )

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**Prologue**

**"**I know you can help them. Why won't you just do it? They won't be able to deal with this alone!" the spirit cried. Her image began flickering and she felt herself going transparent; the work of the higher power in front of her. It had no real shape or features, it was just a glowing-green figure with a human form.

"No!" she yelled, focusing all her energies on remaining full-bodied. "You have to do something. I can't stand here and let them all die! If you won't help, let me!"

The shimmering apparition in front of her began to flash a brighter shade of green. She got the distinct impression she had pissed it off.

"Tara, this world is not the one you came from. You have no business with their fight. It is not my place to interfere with other worlds when destiny has shaped all of their decisions, so it is certainly not yours. Why do you care so much?" it's otherworldy voice echoed. It didn't move while it spoke, didn't seem to do anything but glow.

Tara stopped for a second. Her obvious answer was that Willow was in this world, and they were together. Shouldn't that be enough? It would only be right that she protect the Willow in this world since she couldn't help her friends in the other. But why did she care? Because they were her world, whether it was her own dimension of not. She had already been made to stand by while one of her loved ones died and she wouldn't let it happen the anyone else.

"Because they don't deserve to die," she replied quietly, glancing pleadingly at the higher power. She could have sworn she heard the power sigh, but if they were simply energy, could they even do that? She shook her head. More important things were going on right now, like stopping her friends from being slaughtered by the First Evil.

A moment passed. A very long, tense moment and Tara felt the lives of her friends hanging in the balance. If her friends didn't survive, she would never be able to forgive herself. She had already failed her Willow because she couldn't stop her from using dark magicks and the idea that the reason she wasn't able to move on is because she couldn't let herself leave them again. They needed her help one last time before she could truly move on.

She was interuppted from her reverie by the deep resounding beauty of the powerful voice.

"How do you plan on aiding them in this fight? You can't go there, you know this." She did know, and it was painful. She obviously wasn't allowed to go to her own Sunnydale, but she wasn't even allowed acces to this one, mostly because she wasn't dead there. No, she had an idea. One that didn't involve her taking an active role in helping them. She was going to give them a nudge in the right direction and hope that they knew what to do.

"By introducing them to someone they haven't seen in a long while," she replied, feeling confident that her idea was a smart one. The words echoed throughout the plane, washing over her like a wave. The power was mulling over it's decision before it finally spoke.

"Very well. But you will receive no help from anyone or anything else. This is on your hands. I hope you have a plan; you're going to need it," the entity conceded. Before Tara had a chance to thank it for letting her do this, she was sent from the higher plane down to the Summers' residence, where nobody even knew she was there. She just prayed that her plan worked.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing except a few guitars and my brain... sometimes  
A.N: I'm pretty much writing this as I go, so please, any feedback would be great. I have an idea of where it's going, but it's getting there that's the problem. Anyway, enjoy.

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It was dark. It was always dark here, pitch black as if night had fallen over everything, the ground, the trees, the people. There was no way to tell the difference between scenery and the living, or un-living as the case sometimes is. There was a cold chill permanently in the air but by now, she was accustomed to it. After all, she'd been here nearly every night for the past two weeks. There was nothing to do here but fight off some vampires and talk to herself. Apparently, none of the humans could see her, which she didn't mind so much, since she had become less of a people-person recently. 

But tonight, something was off. The air was warmer than usual and she felt different, and not good different. It was as if something was trying to take hold of her or contact her in some bizarre way and the vampires in town were scarce. She stalked through the numerous cemetaries but came across next to nothing. Disappointed, she headed back into town to try and uncover a reason for the decrease in vampire population.

That was when she noticed it. People were looking at her. They weren't supposed to be able to do that, but they were staring at her, as if she'd grown two heads. _Shit_, she thought. _What if I have?_ Now paranoid, she kept feeling her shoulders and her neck to make sure there was only one head on top of her lean, muscular body. One head, check. Still, though, the people of the town looked at her in suprise, fear, amazement but she had no idea why.

Ignoring the attention she was suddenly attracting, she heard a long sharp scream come from an alley two blocks away. Instantly she bolted off in the direction of the disturbance, vaulting a fence or two as a shortcut. When she got there, she pulled the vampire off a young man, who looked around 17 and was scared beyond belief. Blood oozed down his neck, but just like everyone else in the town, he gazed at her like a kid would look at Santa. Then he took off and she spun to take down the vampire.

"What the hell are you?" he screeched. She took a step towards in and he sprinted in the opposite direction to the kid, making her wonder just what the hell had gotten into Sunnydale's population. Was she walking around with 'bitch' stamped on her forehead? Or had she grown another eye, another nose, another mouth?

"They should definately check the water supply in this place," she muttered, walking away shaking her head before she flicked her dark brown hair over her shoulders.

Making a stop into the Bronze to check on the vampire situation, she pushed her way to the bathroom where she looked in the mirror and froze.

"What the f-"

Faith flew up and out of her cot, staring around her cell, looking for signs of her invader. Glancing in the cracked, filthy mirror on the other side of the wall, she saw that she was herself again, all of herself instead of half someone else. She had seen that chick before... but who was she? And why would she want to take over half of her body?

"Faith, you okay?" her cell-mate rasped, opening one eye and looking over at Faith's heavily breathing form.

"Five by five," she grunted, staring at her reflection in the broken mirror.

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Morale was low. Death toll was getting higher by the minute. Their position was the same. For every Potential Slayer that arrived, three were killed off by Bringers, or at the worst, the Turok-Han. They all feared the Turok-Han, but for good reason. 

"Willow, have you seen Dawn this morning?" Tara asked quietly, knowing that Willow had asked to be alone. The red-haired Wicca thought about it for a second before shaking her head. She hadn't seen anyone this morning besides Tara, mostly because she hadn't left their room. Their room in the Summers' house.

_Buffy,_ she thought sadly. Teras sprang to her eyes again and Tara was at her side in a heartbeat. If it wasn't for Tara, Willow would have let go. She couldn't stand going through this again, but she had to try and be strong, for Dawn if not herself.

Steeling herself, she stood from her position by the window and faced Tara.

"I'll help you look if you want," she rasped. Tara smiled sweetly. She had to know how much this was killing Willow but the red head had to do something, she couldn't just sit around and cry all day. Not again.

Before Tara could say no, Willow had left the room and was hunting the entire high for the younger Summers girl. Her head suddenly filled with images from her past; the first time she had seen Dawn; Oz with another woman; the day she met Tara; their first kiss; Faith in Buffy's body; Joyce's funeral. Good things mingled with bad until she wasn't able to separate them. Her mind was overloaded with pain and people, too many things to work out at once and too many people to remember. They had been through so much agony, so much heartache.

And it was only going to get worse.

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Her first and only encounter with the Rogue Slayer was brief. She could tell from the dark-energy the Slayer was emitting that it was not Buffy in her own body, but in fact, Faith. From this first meeting, she didn't get the best impression of the dark-haired Slayer and she would have gladly avoided meeting her properly. But now, after seeing Faith imprisoned in what could only be described as a great make-shift hell-on-earth cell, she felt for the Slayer. Faith could easily bust herself out; she had the power to take down anyone who tried to stop her, but instead, she used her self-control and her need to redeem herself to stay locked up. The inner turmoil she put herself through showed that she had made a drastic change. Before, Faith was an 'act now, don't think later' type of gal and now she tortured herself, constantly thinking about her past actions and what had led her to where she was.

Tara had great respect for the dark Slayer for turning herself in and for sticking to the rules for once. She had stayed out of trouble as long as she had been here. In fact, the only time Tara had ever seen her get worked up was when she woke up from that dream, the one Tara had mojoed herself into.

This was the first step into setting her plan in motion, and so far, it was successful. Faith was prepared for anything, and she didn't jump off the deep end when faced with something unexpected, which was good.

Truth be told though, it would be easier to have Faith break out of jail than get the other Faith here.

But it was necessary.

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You guys are following this right? If not... it will all become clear soon evil laugh  
Anyway, let me know if you think I should continue or just give up.  
I need to know if anybody's actually reading this : ) 


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Again, nothing is mine. Just the wacky idea that came to me in a dream...  
A.N: Thanks RabidReject and Alani for the reivews. Glad I've got you interested. Sorry to say but this chapter may confuse you even more. And RabidReject, I can't tell you if Buffy's dead... she might be, she might not. You'll find out soon enough.

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She shouldn't be here. There was nothing she could do to help. Last night showed her that; so many people injured or dead, and all because she couldn't do her job properly. _Damn_, she thought, _if only B. could hear what I was thinking. She shake my hand and welcome me to the self-doubting club._ Faith had to admit, B. seemed alot more confident in their little "army" than she ought to be. A bunch of teenage girls... how the hell were they meant to help beat down the First Evil? It was crazy, but sometimes, crazy helped.

Faith pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one as her thoughts drifted over her past psychopathic tendancies and she remebered that priest guy. What was his name again? Oh, Caleb. Now he was one crazy-ass bastard, but Jesus H. was he strong. He took down B. and herself easily, broke Rona's arm, killed that Molly kid and put out Xander's eye. There was no way they could beat him, even if they went in with their entire regiment. It would just mean more people would die, or get seriously injured.

_Or half blinded_, she hissed in her head. She took a drag of her cigarette and blew out the smoke. That son of a bitch was going to pay for what he did to the Xan-man. He didn't deserve it; he was only trying to save lives. But then again, weren't they all? She felt sorry for him, something she never thought she would be able to admit, even to herself. And Willow. She was so heartbroken when she found out what happened to him. Faith never even got a chance to apologize to her, she just raced out to the car and sped off down the street. But they would cope, right? They had to, they were the Scoobies.

_So where do I fit in?_

"Faith?"

Buffy's voice carried across the backyard from where she stood on the verandah to where Faith sat on a bench near the back fence. When she turned to face her, the older Slayer looked exhausted. She had been at the hospital mostly all night with Xander, only coming back to check on Dawn and the other casualties. _Casualties_. God, she hated that word. But there was no other way to describe it. She was pretty sure B. despised it too, but it wasn't something she wanted to bring up right now.

"What's up B.?" she asked, turning towards the blonde as she slowly walked to the bench to sit beside Faith. Taking a long drag, she gently asked, "How's Xander?"

She watched as Buffy's face fell slightly, if it was even possible at all. She was wearing a mask of depression that nobody else seemed to see. _Or maybe they just don't want to_, she thought, which she could understand. They didn't want to see their leader all weak and vulnerable. It would bust morale up even more to think that the numero uno Slayer had lost hope. Hell, it was busting Faith up to see Buffy so down.

"He's... he's trying to deal with it," she replied simply, her voice so quiet Faith had to strain to hear it. It was clear that it wasn't only Xander that was dealing with his loss of eyesight. His friends were taking it hard too. Only a masochistic asshole like Caleb would take pleasure out of seeing someone hurt like that. Faith glanced at Buffy again and saw tears forming behind her once-shining green eyes. She wanted so badly to put her arm around the older girl and tell her everything would be okay, but she couldn't know that. None of them could.

"B." Faith started. Watching the salty tears make a path down the blonde's face, Faith lifted a thumb to wipe them away. There was nothing she could say to make this any better, nothing that would make Buffy feel better. Without thinking about it, she rested her arm on Buffy's shoulder and the wayward Slayer let her lay her head down on her shoulder and cry.

Normally, she wouldn't be comfortable in a situation like this, but right now, Buffy didn't have anybody else. She couldn't let little D see her like this and her two best friends were at the hospital. If the circumstances were different and Faith was the one crying, she wasn't sure if Buffy would be trying to comfort her like this; after everything she put them through, she'd have a right not to, but Buffy had forgiven her. At least, she hoped she had.

"Faith, you have to help me," Buffy said into her shoulder. She lifted her head up, her tear-stained face set. Faith simply inhaled her smoke, raised her eyebrows and let go of the other girl. "We need to take him down." Her eyes were no longer dull and hopeless; they burned with a hatred and resolve Faith hadn't seen since they were last aimed at her. She understood Buffy's need to hurt Caleb, but right now it didn't sound like a smart plan. They needed to rest, reboost and train harder.

"B. we wouldn't even know where to start. I mean, he's pretty untouchable, right? So we should take our time and make a plan," Faith stated slowly. She couldn't believe she was saying this. She was thinking instead of doing. Right then, she realized how different she was since the last time she had been in grand ol' Sunny-D, and she thought Buffy did too. Her eyes softened as they looked at the former Rogue, contemplating Faith's change of heart.

"You really have changed, Faith," was all she said before she stood up and headed back toward the house. Before she hit the door, she turned and instructed her to find Kennedy and come down to the basement.

_Great_, Faith thought, pinging away her cigarette. _The genius team of two Slayers, a Brat and a vampire_.

She stood up and felt dizzy, reaching down to grab the bench before she fell over, only, it wasn't there. Nothing was there. The backyard had turned into a white abyss. _White abyss always on the plus from a black abyss_, she thought dryly. Her stomach started to twist and she felt as though she was being pulled in different directions. Her mind became blank, but almost as soon as it had started, it was over and she was in the Summers yard again.

"What the hell was that?" she muttered to herself, placing a hand on her now-settled stomach and shaking her head. Carefully, she placed one foot in front of the other and made her way to the back door. Wondering whether she had blacked out, _into a white room?_ she began mixing theories in her head. Someone might have drugged her; she might have fallen asleep after Buffy left; she might have had a vision. All of which she ruled out, leaving her more confused than when she started.

Stepping into the foyer of the Summer's house, Faith froze and opened her eyes in shock.

Kennedy was sitting on the couch with a girl. A girl that was distincly _not_ Red.

"Brat, what the hell are you doing?!" she yelled, causing the young brunette Potential to pull away from her make-out buddy and stare at her in contempt.

Suddenly she stood up from the couch and assumed a fighting stance. The other girl did the same, standing just behind Kennedy.

_When the hell did I become a threat again?_ Faith asked herself, watching as the two teenagers in front of her attempted to stare her down.

"Who the hell are you?" Kennedy demanded.

_What?!_

_

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More confused? I thought so.  
Don't worry, it promise it will make sense soon. Please keep reviewing, it makes me smile. And I write better when I smile.


	4. Chapter 3

Hope people are still reading this, coz it gives me some focus. Read & review please

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Dawn sat in her room, listening to the voices coming from all over the house. It shocked her how people could be so upbeat after everything that had happened. She almost felt like it was insulting to the memories. 

Thankfully, nobody had bothered to come and drag her out of bed today, so instead of getting up, she tried to keep herself sane with the radio. Things seemed so normal and controlled in other parts of the world. She sort of missed that control, was sort of jealous that she couldn't have it; but at the same time, she was glad that other people didn't have to deal with the same concerns and life-threatening oogie-boogies they did.

A post-punk screamo song came on the radio and Dawn smiled sadly. She remembered it as one she and Buffy had seen the video for and had become overly synical about it. It was your standard teen-ansgt rock song, and the video was your overly stereotyped depressed adolescent cutting herself and going to gigs and drinking, getting high and doing things they would supposedly never remember in the morning, with the occassional appearance from the band playing to a head-banging crowd. Buffy joined her in complaining about the portayal of the teen life, and how it stood to damage the already tainted reputation of the "young adult."

A lonely tear spilled down her cheek. That was the last time she and Buffy had spent any sisterly time together. Granted, it had been fun and it was good to laugh with Buffy, but she wished she had gotten a chance to have a serious conversation with her before all the badness started.

Now they'd never have that chance.

The song ended and a cheerful female voice came on the radio before Dawn punched the off button. There was no reason for her to stay locked in her room all day, so she decided to go and help out with the Potentials, or see if anybody needed anything. Frowning as she pulled the covers off her, she realized that there was a downside to her plan. People would be all avoidy and sympathetic towards her and that she didn't need. The constant antsy movements of the Potentials was bad enough, without their misplaced pity. She wasn't the one who needed their misguided attention; They did. They were the ones who were now leaderless. They would be going into this fight unprepared and most of them would die. It wasn't Dawn who deserved their sympathy.

Shaking her head, she pulled on a pair of faded denim jeans and a purple v-neck sweater and slid out the door, only to be instantly greeted with the sound of hostility from the living room.

She sighed and vowed never to listen to herself again before slowly descending the staircase. A mass of dark brown hair stood near the entrance to the lounge and Dawn thought it was Kennedy, kicking up trouble with other Potentials again. But as she neared the foot of the stairs, she saw Kennedy and Alice standing in attack positions as though they were in danger. That was when she realized there was a threat in the house.

Her instant reaction would have been to call Buffy, but her gaze turned downward when she realized her mistake. She couldn't call Buffy. She was hte only Summers girl in this house now, and she was in charge.

"You've got to be kidding. Kennedy, now is not the time for your lame jokes that nobody gets. You know fine well who I am, you're just trying to avoid the question!" the brunette nearest to her said, sounding exhasperated. Most poeple sounded like that talking to Kennedy. Maybe it was a sign.

Actually, the husky voice sounded sort of familiar, but she couldn't place where she had heard it, or who it belonged to.

"What do you want?" Kennedy asked dangerously. Her eyes had a glint in them, and Dawn told herself it was not a glint of fear. Kennedy didn't get afraid; it wasn't her forté. But Alice looked scared. This made Dawn a little nervous. Alice wasn't one to feel fear either; she liked to believe she was almost as tough as Kennedy. But seeing the two most experienced Potentials staring down the mystery brunette chick in defensive stances made Dawn unsure of the situation.

"What's going on here?" Dawn demanded, coming up behind the taller brunette. Her voice sounded more confident than she actually felt, but she didn't let on. She thought of what Buffy would do in a situation like this. _Probably smack the weird chick who had appeared in the house, depending on if it's the First or not_, she told herself. She didn't feel any evil in the air, so she didn't believe this person was the First, or anything that might cause them harm. But it was always better to be safe than sorry, like the old cliché said.

When the girl in front of her turned around, Dawn felt her breath catch in her throat. The tight, dark jeans, the red tank top, the denim jacket. And those eyes. Those dark, penetrating eyes that were burning her with their familiarity. They softened when they settled on Dawn, but the raven hair falling into her face didn't calm the younger girl like it would have in days of old.

_Faith_, she thought.

"Hey Lil' D. You wanna tell the Brat to answer me?" she implored. A white hot rage had built up inside Dawn, and as soon as Faith opened her mouth, the only thing Dawn wanted to do was punch her.

So she did.

Her fist flew towards Faith's face, full of all the pent up anger, frustration and guilt that she hadn't managed to get rid of since...

"What the hell was that for?!" Faith cried, flicking her wavy hair behind her shoulders and staring at the Summers girl in disbelief. She was dabbing her fingers at the blood beginning to form from the cut on her lip, inflicted by the teenage girl. _Score one for Dawn_, she thought, proud that she had made the Slayer bleed.

"Damn, you get more like B. everyday," Faith muttered, looking at her with a small smile playing on the corners of her mouth.

"How dare you," she growled. Why the hell was she here? Did she think that after all this time, after everything she had put Buffy and her mom and herself through, that she could just waltz back into Sunnydale, show up at _her_ house and play the innocent party as though nothing ever happened?

_She said I'm more like Buffy_, she realized, tears forming behind her pale blue eyes. It was the greatest compliment she had ever received, but sad at the same time.

"What? What is it Dawn? Are you okay?" Faith asked, placing a hand on her arm, her eyes screaming conern. Dawn stared at the contact for a moment, wondering when exactly Faith had become caring and involved instead of selfish and rebellious.

"Is she okay? God, this idiot wants to win the dumbest question of the year award," Kennedy scoffed. She had relaxed a little but still looked as though she was ready to jump Faith whenever Dawn gave the go-ahead.

Faith turned to glare at her, severing the contact and breaking Dawn's momentary lapse into her thoughts.

"Kennedy that's enough," she told the Potential. Kennedy raised her eyebrows and appeared to be questioning Dawn's judgement. She had every right to. It wasn't as though Dawn was the best person to be making decisions, especially not about seemingly former murdering-psychopaths. She ignored Kennedy's stare and turned back to Faith. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail."

Confusion flashed across Faith's face. It was then that Dawn noticed the haunted look in her eyes, the maturity of her features. Faith was no longer an insane teenage girl, but a tortured adult whose past choices caused her to seek redemption whenever she could.

"Dawn, I came back yesterday, remember? Me and B. took some Potentials to fight the crazy priest guy," Faith replied slowly, looking at Dawn as if she was delusional. "Brat, you remember right? You were there. Xander..." Faith stopped, gazing behind Kennedy. Dawn turned to see what she was looking at and spotted Xander standing by the fireplace with anger and recognition in his glare.

She had only heard about Xander's thing with Faith once. People didn't tend to talk about it alot, and she could understand why. The Slayer had used Xander, putting into play her infamous 'get some, get gone' rule. But it was obvious that Xander remembered; he remembered everything that Faith had ever done to them.

"What priest guy?" Kennedy questioned, looking at Xander at then back to Faith, still staring her down but more to gather whether the older brunette was looney tunes or not.

Dawn watched Faith's reaction to Xander, her attitude towards Kennedy and her confusion at her own memory.

"Am I dreaming or somethin'? Where's B.? She's the only one in this place that might not look at me like I'm crazy," Faith said, looking at the ashen faces of those around her.

At the mention of her sister's name, Dawn's vision went fuzzy again. Unadultered tears flowed from her watery eyes, freefalling onto her shirt. Her brain stopped functioning as she remembered Buffy, their last conversation, the last time they hugged each other. She felt strong arms wrap themselves around her and smelt Xander's aftershave. He whispered words into her hair and kissed her skull.

"What the hell is going on?!" Faith demanded, looking at the faces around her.

Dawn felt Xander's grip on her loosen but never let go. As the words passed his lips, she felt her world come crashing down all over again.

"She's dead, Faith."

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I'm aware Dawn never actually met Faith prior to season 7, but there were references in the series that shows Faith had memories of Dawn put in place by the crazy monk guys when she was the Key.  
Just to make that clear.  
It's finally been announced. Buffy's dead, but why is Faith so confused?

Review some more and I might tell you : )


	5. Chapter 4

Sorry for the massive delay in update. Won't bore you with the details, lets just get on with this. Not sure what's going to be in this chapter as of yet, basically just writing it as I go. Thank you for the reviews and your patience. This is for you guys : )

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_Buffy's dead._ The words spun around her head, nauseating her and confusing her at the same time. B. couldn't be dead. She had only just spoken to her. They had been in the backyard, talking. B. was upset, Faith talked her out of going in after the preacher all guns blazing. 

_What the hell is going on?_ she thought. This wasn't right, Buffy couldn't be dead.

She suddenly became so guilty, so sad, so… empty. Buffy was her sister Slayer. She was the one in charge, the experienced, tough chick, the one who took no shit. With her gone, Faith was all alone. Nobody else would ever know how it felt to be the Slayer. Nobody else would know how hard it was to have to face things young girls shouldn't ever have to see. Nobody would know how it felt to be _her._

_I didn't even get to say sorry,_ she thought sadly, remembering all the things she had ever done to B. that she would never be able to take back, not now.

"No," she rasped, tears stinging her eyes. She shook her head. None of this was making sense, Buffy couldn't have died in the last two minutes. "When?"

Xander turned to her, grief plaguing his features. He still held on to Dawn, clearly feeling a need to protect her from the emotional pain Faith didn't even realize she had inflicted.

"Two weeks ago. It was... never mind, you wouldn't understand," he said simply. He didn't say it in a resentful way, his voice was too full of sorrow and pain. He had lost his best friend, again. This made Faith's confusion grow. Buffy spoke to her two minutes ago. It wasn't the First, she hugged the other Slayer. This didn't make sense, it just wasn't right.

"She was here, she was talking to me! Xander, she wanted to go after the preacher for what he did to you... which he apparently didn't do. You've never met Caleb have you?" Faith asked. Maybe this would make sense if she figured out what the hell was going on. Xander was fine, Buffy was dead, Caleb wasn't in town.

"Who's Caleb? And what did he do to Xander?" Kennedy asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Faith like she was crazy. She was getting tired of that look, especially since she was openly cheating on the Witch.

"Willow! Where's Willow, she knows I'm here, she drove me back from LA. There was a girl, in the hospital... she had a message for Buffy. Willow stayed with her." Finally, she was going to get to the bottom of this. Footsteps on the stairs announced the arrival of the redhead... with a blonde chick in tow. Willow looked worse for wear; her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks tear-stained. Exhaustion was clear on her face and her expression was grim. The other girl... Faith knew her, she'd seen her before...

"Faith?" Willow's eyes opened in shock and the blonde behind her folded her arms and looked cautious. Apparently, by the way they were staring at her, they hadn't known she was here either. _What the hell is going on in this place?!_

"Willow, she's not psycopathic. A little schizo, but not dangerous... so far," Dawn told the witch. They shared a look and Faith was waiting for another punch from either of them, which to be perfectly honest was uncalled for. She wasn't trying to kill them, she wasn't even insulting them! _They_ were the ones confusing her.

"Dawn, stand back from her. She might just be playing you," the blonde chick warned. _Wait... it can't be._

"Tara? But you're... you can't be here... This isn't right!" Faith exclaimed, throwing her hands up. Xander moved Dawn behind him and Kennedy stepped back.

"No, it's distinctly not. You're the one that shouldn't be here Faith, you're supposed to be in jail. You killed a man, you can't just walk away from the justice system because you're a Slayer and you think you can break any rules you want. It doesn't work that way. And just because you're the _only_ Slayer now, that doesn't mean we want you in Sunnydale. We can fight this without you," Willow declared, glaring at the dark-haired Slayer as though she was nothing more than dirt.

"You don't understand, Red! This isn't how it was! Buffy's alive, Tara's not, you're with Kennedy, you brought me here from LA after you helped Angel's crew give him back his soul. The preacher guy working for the First breezes into town and puts out Xander's eye. Do you get it now? This isn't the way it's meant to be!" Faith yelled. She was getting tired of being second-guessed. She wasn't crazy, she was just confused, just as confused as she was sure the others were.

A shocked silence fell over the people standing around her. Maybe she said too much. She had clearly upset them, Willow and Tara especially. They looked at each other, tears in both their eyes. She couldn't watch the effects of her words and instead stared at the ground, trying to figure things out. This was a dream. A horrible nightmarish dream, where things make no sense and she's the only Slayer. Granted, they didn't want her here, but if they were facing the First, they would need her. The Potentials wouldn't be able to handle it themselves. They needed someone with power and experience.

They would need her.  
But what if she woke up?

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I don't think this makes a lot of sense, and I'm sorry but I have major writer's block  
let me know how much it sucks and I'll try to make the next one better 


	6. Chapter 5

A.N: So I kinda fell off the face of the planet for a while there. Then I remember I had something to write, and here I am. Sorry if this is terrible, it's 1am and I'm still not sure how to get where I'm going with this. Any ideas would be great, and reviews are always welcome. If nobody's reading this, I'll take that as a sign not to bother updating again. Enjoy

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Chapter 5

When Buffy walked down to the basement, Spike sat alone on his cot, smoking and appearing to be deep in thought. _What is it with all the former-bad asses around here and polluting the air?_ she thought, narrowing her eyes at the chains of blue-grey toxins that circled the closed off area.

Spike glanced up from his cancer-stick at the Slayer and tilted his head.

"You've been crying," he stated. There was concern in his eyes, but he didn't show it in his voice. He also didn't seem very surprised at this observation but he wasn't so mindless as to ask why. It must have been fairly obvious.

Buffy subconsciously wiped her face before moving further into the space. She shrugged a little as she sat down beside the topless vampire.

"Has Faith been down yet?" _Well clearly not, since Kennedy's not here either_ she thought to herself. Where were they? It had been 10 minutes since she had asked Faith to get the Potential down here. In Faith's defence, it was easy to get side-tracked in this house, especially when a lot of the girls were broken and defeated from their unsuccessful raid on the Vineyard last night.

Spike's low voice broke her from her reverie, reminding her that the other Slayer had gone AWOL. She just hoped it wasn't as bad a sign as it seemed.

"Haven't seen her all morning, love. Somethin' wrong?" He implored her eyes with his own, sensing the worry and seeing the effects of her restless night. Despite all that was going on, she wanted to just curl up in his arms and let him tell her things would work out alright, even though they both knew it wouldn't.

She sighed. The answer to his question was everything. Everything was wrong. But she couldn't think of a way to fix it, if there even was a way.

"I asked her to find Kennedy and get her down here. We need a plan or something, anything that might help with our new threat," Buffy declared, standing and heading towards the stairs.

She heard Spike say something behind her, but didn't catch what it was. Her mind was already racing a million thoughts a minute. There were too many to pick out just one.

But she tried to focus herself on finding Faith.

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This wasn't exactly the way she had wanted it to go. But then again, what did she expect when she dragged Faith out of a reality where she's finally been forgiven and gets treated like a person and dropped her right in the middle of the aftermath of a colossal loss where people don't know her and don't want her there. Aside from that, the differences between the two worlds are enough to through anybody off guard, much like the dark-haired Slayer had.

She wondered how long it would take Faith to realize that she was meant to help, no matter if nobody wanted her help. It's what she was there to do, to stop this world collapsing in on itself. With the death of Buffy, Faith was the only Slayer and she was the only one that could help them get where they needed to be. But Tara had not anticipated what the demise of her sister Slayer would do to Faith. Right now, she looked to be in pain, trying desperately to suppress tears that threatened to fall as she sat on the bench in the Summers' yard; the one she had been pulled out of not long ago.

Tara had underestimated the Slayer bond between the two, and wished that she could tell Faith what she had to do so she could go back to her own world, where Buffy was still alive and still forgiving. Unfortunately, that was not allowed. The former rogue would have to figure that out for herself and hopefully, it would be sooner rather than later. It pained the witch to see such a strong and independent woman like Faith stripped of her confidence and to fold in on herself, so weak and vulnerable.

_Soon,_ Tara thought, leaving Faith completely along in the backyard once more.

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"What are we gonna do? I mean she's gotta be here for a reason, right? And it doesn't seem like she wants to hurt anybody," Xander reasoned. He stood with his arm protectively around Dawn in the kitchen, now filled with the Scooby core since the vultures that were the Potentials after breakfast had been banished from their conversation.

"Maybe not, Xander, but she had no idea what happened. She thought she was somewhere else, right? How about we try and find out where that something else _is_," Willow suggested. Xander looked at her properly for the first time in a good long while. There were bags around her red bloodshot eyes and she seemed paler than usual. A sense of grief constantly plagued the Wicca's expression, although she tried to hide it around Dawn. For some reason, she had taken Buffy's death harder than anyone else, including the younger Summers girl. Xander had a feeling this was because she couldn't do anything to fix it this time.

"Um, that won't work." All eyes turned to Kennedy, who was leaning against the doorframe obviously loving the attention. She continued after a beat. "She thinks she's _here_. Personally, I think she's delusion-"

"She's not delusional," Tara interrupted, turning from her position of watching the Slayer from the door leading outside. She seemed thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "S-she's not meant to be here. I mean she is, but not this version of here."

Along with everyone else in the room, Xander was confused, but Dawn was the first to speak.

"What, you mean she's from another reality or something?" she asked. Tara nodded in earnest, which elicited everyone's interest.

"Exactly." The blonde Wicca seemed so sure of this that it threw everyone off slightly. Xander didn't understand. If she was from another reality, why was she_ here_, in _this_ reality? An idea came to his head then.

"What if we call the prison she's meant to be in, just to make sure?" he offered. When his suggestion was approved, he quickly found the phonebook and picked up the receiver, dialling the number as the rest of the group continued talking.

"Baby, doesn't that mean somebody sent her here?" Willow asked her girlfriend quietly. Tara paused for a moment before nodding as Willow continued. "Then Xander's right, she's here for a reason. Somebody sent her here for a reason." Xander's ears perked up at the red-head's admission, but decided now was not the time to gloat. Instead, he proceeded to ask the warden on the phone if Faith was still... a member of their society. After a few unsettlingly silent moments, the answer came back affirmative and he thanked the man before hanging up.

"She's still there," he told the group.

Tara went back to the door where she watched Faith at the other end of the garden desperately battling to hold herself together.

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I promise to update at least once a month now, and if I don't, I give you all permission to smack me upside my head :)  
Hope things make more sense now... should see some progression in the next update; that's the plan anyway  
Sorry it's so short, but I'm sleepy :)


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